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Thursday, March 22, 2012

home cooked meals.

One of my favorites parts about visiting my Mom on Cape Cod is spending time together in the kitchen. Usually, she is doing most of the cooking and I am lingering about snapping photographs and we're both drinking a fun St. Germain cocktail. She combined vodka and the ever versatile liqueur with pineapple juice and a dash of lime. Shaken vigorously, the pour yielded a frothy and nicely balanced martini to kick off the festivities. We were celebrating my birthday (yes it was on February 21st) but since we hadn't seen each other, she treated me to a home cooked meal and the obligatory birthday cake. Often times my birthday celebrating might begin on February 21st, but with lots of friends and family to plan celebrations, and only so many weekends, Adam likes to call this month long stretch "the never ending birthday." (Sung to the tune of, "The Never Ending Sto-orryyyyy"). I'll take it. For dinner she prepared a panko and pistachio encrusted Mahi Mahi in a lemon herb cream sauce and served it with roasted brussels sprouts and a baked sweet potato. The cake was a chocolate ganache torte from Trader Joe's served with Cape Cod Creamery coconut ice cream. This gourmet ice cream is some of the smoothest, creamiest and most flavorful this side of the Sagamore bridge. If you visit the mid cape, get some!We stayed up late drinking red wine and watching this awesomeBBC cooking show Two Fat Ladies(that originally aired in 1996). Has anyone else ever watched or heard of it? Thesewomen are thoroughly entertaining home cooks who travel to kitchens in the British countryside and prepare family style meals using traditional techniques and fresh, local ingredients, with a side of quick whit and dry humor. I was an instant fan. Breakfast after Yoga on Saturday morning was mango apricot Greek yogurt (another fantastic Trader Joe's combination) which we mixed with even more fruit - some blueberries, banana and a dash of cinnamon and shaved nutmeg. Alongside we enjoyed fluffy, lightly toasted croissants with orange marmalade and rose petal jam. This morning marked my first yoga class ever, and it felt really good to finally try it out. I never had much interest though my Mom has practiced for years and would always invite me to a class with her. Her persuasive argument "you're 28 now, you should try something new!" this time around resonated. I stretched muscles I didn't know existed, focused on my breathing and loved that it presented me with a work out and a relaxation session at the same time. I would definitely take another class!

The final home cooked meal of the weekend was breakfast on Sunday morning, which consisted of thick cut french toast made from a lust worthy loaf of bread purchased at PB Boulangerie Bistro in Wellfleet. A must visit when we're about the towns of the lower cape, we usually just pop into the boulangerie for bread, sweets and cappuccino, but every time we leave I'm craving a sit down meal in the adorable Parisian meets beachy inspired bistro. Maybe this summer!

Mom paired the french toast with blueberry infused Vermont Maple Syrup and a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

It was a delicious weekend! More on the rest of our Cape Cod adventures (beach combing, sunsets, shopping at Atlantic Spice Co.) to come!

You're making me miss my mom... and weekends on the Cape. Can't wait til July! :) It sounds like you had such a great time together. And I love yoga... definitely stretches muscles you didn't know you had. And I say keep the b-day celebration going as long as you can!!!

Aww, I love Two Fat Ladies. I used to watch it with my mom years ago! You hit some of my favorites: the coconut is the best flavor at Cape Cod Creamery and PB Boulangerie is a treat (I've never sat down to a meal, just gotten baked goods).

What a great weekend with great food (and I'm in love with your mother's tableware...)! Now I really cannot wait to get to the Cape myself.

I love when my mom cooks special meals for me too! Which she has been doing a lot lately since I haven't been cooking. Everything looks delicious Daisy. Hope you enjoy dinner at Gretchen's tomorrow : )